The Mage of Clow
by TheFanFictionAlchemist
Summary: Being the story of a Mage, a Princess, the son of a mapmaker,a palace guard, an apple, and some gloves. AU.KuroFai Syaoran/Sakura
1. Chapter 1

**The Mage Of Clow- **

**_Being the story of a Mage, a Princess, the son of a mapmaker, _**

**_a palace guard, an apple, _****_and some gloves._**

**Part 1.**

**DISCLAIMER: **I think you guys know the drill.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**I've been in a slump, lately. Everything I've written, I've promptly deleted! Until, yesterday, I picked up a book be the name of 'The Tale of Despereaux'. I love books, you see. All of them fiction, non-fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, mysteries, whatever has words in it and interesting characters. In cluding children's books, like that one. It was adorable, and it inspired this, a KuroFai fairy tale, written in a style close to that of the novel. Essentially, this is a children's fairy tale.

* * *

_Dear readers, would you like to hear a story? I will warn you, it is not for the faint of heart. It is full of magic, and sword fights, and has a rather scary villain. But it does have a mostly happy ending, like a good story should, and I promise it is not too scary. So would you like to hear it? Well then, those of you who are brave enough, just keep reading. . . _

Once there was a princess. A pretty little princess, born to the king and queen of a country called Clow, in the season when the trees with the pink blossoms on them, in the palace courtyard were in full bloom. These, readers, were called the sakura trees, and since the little princess was born in the time of their blossoming, and was sweet, and beautiful, that is what she was called. Sakura. And when she was born, the whole country rejoiced, for it was filled with good, kind people, who loved their king and queen, and loved the little princess.

But alas, dear readers, this is not her story.

She is a very important part of the story, indeed, without her, there could not be a story. But this tale simply does not belong to her.

Once, in that same kingdom, there was born a boy. It was in the same year as the birth of the little princess, but he was not the son of the king, so there was no rejoicing through out the kingdom at his birth. He was the son of a mapmaker, and his wife, who traveled all over, making maps of all the world. Map-making is, you know, a much more important job than some people appreciate. Without mapmakers, we wouldall be lost, or late, all the time. So this boy's father did a very important thing, and the boy wanted to become a mapmaker too, when he grew up. He wanted it very much, and he wanted to travel everywhere, so he could make a map of the whole world. And his name was Syaoran.

And alas, I must once again tell you, this is not his story. Do not grow impatient, we will get to the person who this story belongs to soon. I promise. It is simply that, you need to know all of these people for any of the story to make sense, since they are all very important people, without whom we would have no story to tell.

Now, we must go backwards a bit, so that we can meet yet another important person. Now, this person was born in a kingdom far from Clow, The Kingdom of Suwa, and he was born a full two years before the little princess Sakura. In this country, the people were tan, with dark hair, and red eyes, the only country in the world where people had red eyes.. He was the son of the captain of the King's Guard in his country, whose job it was to make sure the king and queen and the people of their land were kept safe. You see, this land was not a safe, happy place like Clow country was. It was surrounded by a huge wood, a dark and mysterious wood. The kind that monsters, and witches, and demons like to live in.

And they did live there.

Yes, readers, the whole wood was filled with dark, scary things, that I will not bother to describe. They were far too horrible, and far too frightening. And it was the job of the King's Guard, to defeat them, and keep the country safe. And they did a very good job, usually, and kept the monsters away from the towns and the cities of the kingdom.

Well, this boy was the son of the head of the guard, and he grew up watching his father go off to defeat monsters and evil witches in the forest. And he wanted nothing more than to do what his father did when he grew up, and become the strongest monsterhunter ever. That way, he could keep sll the people he cared for safe. And his name was Kurogane.

Now, I must again unfortunately tell you, dear readers, that Kurogane, thought a fine character, is not who our story is about.

But, now that we have met everyone we need to, I can tell you who it is about.

And who, you ask, who is this tale about?

Well, he was the son of a noble, in yet another land, called Valeria. I am sorry for making you have to remember so many names of so many kingdoms. They are all necessary, this is how the story goes. So, readers, he was the son of a noble in Valeria, a very cold, snowy place. And he was born a twin, in a land where they feared twins. Why, do you ask? I can't really say, I suppose it is simply a silly superstition, like the idea that black cats are bad luck, or that you should not open up an umbrella inside. But this was a very unfortunate superstition, since it meant that the children were feared, and thought evil before they were even an hour old. And, readers, I must unfortunately tell you, twins were not treated well there in Valeria. It is a terrible thing to tell, but that was how is was.

And the twins were named Fai and Yuui.

And what happened, dear readers, to the twins? And to the princess, and the son of the mapmaker, and the son of the son of the guard? How did they ever meet, and what does any of this have to do with apples? Well, you must keep reading, if you want to find out!

So, dear readers, what do you say? Would you like to hear more?

* * *

**END NOTE: **That last questions real, do you want more? This is mostly me trying out the writing style, but I do have a whole fairy-tale to go with it. . .


	2. Chapter 2

Hello, my dear readers, it has been a while since we last met. I must apologize, my friends, you see, things come up sometimes, I never did mean to be away for so very long. Now, I will not bore you with the details of my absence, I think they are far less interesting that the story at hand. That of the twins of Valeria, and what became of them.

So, where were we then, my dears? Ahh, yes our main character. I am sorry to say that the story I must tell you of his life is not a happy one, at least for a while. I do not like this business of telling unpleasant tales, of making my reads sad. But sometimes, I must admit, sometimes, that is just the way things go, and I have to report them, even if I would prefer not to. If you are not one for tragedy, or if you would rather not have to read about terrible things, I would advise dear readers, that you stop reading now, since there will be much sadness to come for a time.

And so, my friends, we find ourselves now in the country of Valeria, a country I must reluctantly tell is in turmoil- now do you know what I mean, dear readers, when I say turmoil? You might want to look it up, my dears, if you do not know, though, I will tell you. Turmoil is 'a state or condition of extreme confusion, agitation, or commotion' according to my dictionary. Of course, that is the literal meaning for the word, it means something a bit different in this case. And what, you ask does it mean in this case?

Well, in this case, it means that the country was not doing well at all. The winter had been long and cold, and hard, and the spring was late in coming. Valeria being a cold place to begin with, most people had stores of food in case of such an emergency. But, it had been so cold for so long that the people were starting to fear they might soon find themselves without enough to eat, and that is not a place one ever wants to find one's self. And the people were going to the King, and telling him of their misfortune, but the King could find no way to fix the problem.

We should speak a moment on the character of the King of Valeria, because, if we don't you might begin to think he was a bad man. He was not. He did bad things, you see, things no one should ever do, but he was not a bad man. Do you understand at all what I mean dear readers? He did things which he thought were right by his own measure, but that wrong by the measure of others. His people were unhappy, and they were begging for his help, something he could not deny them as a good king. So he did as he had been taught, and could you blame him, readers, if he was taught wrong?

He went to his most trusted advisor, and asked of him what he should do to save the kingdom.

"Have you, sire, done anything that might earn the kingdom this bad luck?" his advisor asked.

And when he replied that, no he did not think so; his advisor laughed, and said he disagreed.

I can think of a thing, my king, which you have allowed, in spite of my council against it," the candle light of the chamber glinted off the glass of the man's wire spectacles, "something that should never have happened, which might be having a serious effect on the country."

"What? Name it!" the king urged.

"You have allowed the birth of twins, sire, and allowed these twins to live three years in the palace itself, as nobles, honored, despite the misfortune I told you all twins are apt to bring. Myself, sire, and the tradition of this land, told you not to do so."

"And what do we do?"

"We must…" the man hesitated, as if contemplating something very unpleasant, and wearing the sort of face that told you he would enjoy this unpleasant thing very much, "Dispose of them."

(There are you see, people who like the pain of others, I am sorry to say. And the man with the spectacles was one of them.)

"I will not harm children!" the king roared, "And would it not be worse for us if we did?"

"Ah, possibly," said the advisor, waving his gloved hands about, "but that is not what I propose…we shall not harm them, directly. Simply get rid of them."

With a bit more pressure, the king was made to agree with the schemes of his advisor… thinking by them he might save the people of Valeria. It was very unfortunate for our dear twins that he did…


	3. Chapter 3

**The Mage Of Clow- **

_**Being the story of a Mage, a Princess, the son of a mapmaker, **_

_**a palace guard, an apple, and some gloves.**_

**Part 2**

…**And What Happened to Them**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Much of this belongs to others, especially the descriptions of well know wizards. The Enchanted Forest is heavily influenced by the book 'Dealing with Dragons' and it's sequels, as well. And all the CLAMP stuffs not mine either!**

Dearest readers, have you been well? I hope that you have, in the time we have not been together. Once more, I will not bore you with my own tales of my travels, dragons slain and princesses rescued. Not with so fascinating a story to tell you here: the story of what became of the twins of Valeria.

You will recall dear readers that the man with the spectacles, the advisor to the king of Valeria, had convinced the king of his fiendish and evil plot. But what, you probably wonder, was this most vile plan? Well, it was actually quite simple: the twins of misfortune were not to be harmed at all, simply abandoned in the Enchanted Forest. All the harming could thereby, be done by the forest creatures, and not single bit of blame would go to the Valerians.

It was necessary, however, to wait just a while before they could enact their plans. The boys' mother lived yet, dearest readers, and loved her children, in spite of what any said of them. She knew them, ad knew they were not evil. However, within the year, the woman grew suddenly ill, and, though she had the best doctor's in all Valeria, died within the year after that.

This left the King, and the man with spectacles to do as they pleased, as the boys' father feared them as much as any other.

Now, the Enchanted Forest lies on the southern edge of Valeria, next to its border the country of Clow. Have you heard of it, gentle reader? If you have, no doubt you've heard all about it, and how it is not a place most would willingly travel. If you have not...well, I wouldn't want to frighten you with half the stories they tell about it.

So, on the appointed day, at the appointed time, the twins, only five by then, were brought by carriage to the borders of the forest. They were there pushed out the carriage doors, and led to the edge by the man with spectacles. He lead them in further, promising adventures to them, but once they were deep enough that he was sure the children could not find their way out again, he slipped his gloved hands from their grasp.

I suppose that now, dear readers, I must explain a little about the Enchanted Forest, for those who are unfamiliar with it. The forest has a magic all its own, weaving through it, and causing all manner of strange things to occur. This, dear readers, means that the forest is the sort of place that makes very little sense. Time flows as it likes, days stretch for years, years pass in seconds. The forest attracts magical beings to it, Some of them only seen there, out of the whole world. It is a favorite place for witches, wizards, sorcerers and magicians- not all of them good. It is nor, dear readers, the kind of place where one vacations. And it was where the twins were sent.

Now, dear readers, do not fear! I can promise you, we are getting to a happier place in our tale, provided we make it through this. So, please, stay with me if you can, for you must remember, you are only reading of these awful things. You do not have to experience them, and can set down your book if it grows too scary. So please, be brave and press on, if you can!

I regret to say though, dear readers, that we must first hear of something very sad indeed.

They had wandered, hand in hand, for nearly a half a day, or so it seemed. It may well have been a lifetime, and they would not have known the difference in the forest.

That was when they found themselves separated. The Enchanted Forest, you see, has a habit of shifting around, which is part of the reason why there are no maps of it. Some bits have specific places they like to move to every second Thursday, some bits have places they like to go every one hundred and fifty years, and some, the older, more forgetful parts of the forest, go a little confused with age and forget where it is they are meant to be in the first place; so they wander about constantly. The effect of all this shifting, dear readers, is that it is almost impossible to find you way around in the forest at all. Some actually say that the best way to get out if the forest is to stand in the exact place you are, and hope that it makes its way to the edge in less than one hundred and fifty years.

Now, readers, it serves no problem traveling in pairs or groups in the forest, if you must, as long as you do not let go of the others hands. Now, the twins had so far held one another tightly, afraid, lost and getting hungrier and thirstier by the minute. That was when one, Yuui, saw a little rambling brook. And he was so very thirsty, that he let go of his brother's hand for just a moment, not knowing any better. In that very moment, as Yuui bent down to drink, the forest shifted, and he found himself alone.

Now, in this forest, there was one wizard who had been watching the twins. Indeed though, he was not one of the kind, scholarly variety who are friends to the great birds, with gray beards, or little half-moon shaped glasses set on the end of their long crooked nose; nor one who is brilliant, but who's spells have a tendency to go awry.

No, this wizard was cruel, with a square jaw, and a chin with a strong cleft to it, and he wore a single eyeglass on a long gold chain, called a monocle.

He was called Fei Wong Reed, and feared throughout the land, by those who knew him. The twins, unfortunately, being so very young, did not.

Fei Wong Reed watched, as the twins were separated, hatching clever plans to ensnare them, and use them for his evil plots. He then appeared to one of them, who he found sitting, crying under the branches of a gnarled, half dead tree. The boy knew no better, but please, dear readers, if you ever find yourselves in the Enchanted Forest, remember that nothing is ever what it seems there.

"Child, why are you crying?" he asked.

The boy startled, his eyes going wide. Dear readers, he was fooled by how kind Fei Wong Reed seemed.

"Do not fear! I am a good wizard of the forest," Fei lied, "You are very lucky that I found you! Are you alone?"

The boy dried the tears from his eyes, and shook his head. "My brother," he said at last, "I lost him."

"Ahh...the forest moves all the time, did you let go of his hand?"

The boy nodded, readers, I wish it were not so.

"That is the easiest way to lose someone here," Fei said, smiling sweetly, oh so sweetly. "Now, child, would you like me to help you find your way out?"

"Please!"

"Good! Very good! Now come here, child, come and I will show you..."

And, my dears, I am sorry to say, he went. He rose, and followed the wizard, who took one of the boy's hands in his own.

"I would hate to loose you," he said.

–

He led the boy along a path that only he could see, and in only minutes, they found themselves at the edge of the forest.

"Here you are, child," Fei said, smiling kindly, "Go on."

"But...my brother," the boy said, "I cannot leave him!"

"Ah, but your own freedom lies before you, would you give it up for him?"

The boy did not answer, as his trust in the stranger began to waver. But too late, dear readers, far too late.

"If you had to choose, child, who would you pick? Would you save yourself? It would be a selfish choice, but I doubt any would blame you for it.

"Or would you choose him? Your dear brother, still lost in the forest, and sacrifice yourself?"

"If I had to chose..." the boy began.

"Yes, if you had to choose..." Fei Wong Reed said, his voice suddenly cold and hard as stone. "Choose, child, you or him!"

"Save my brother," the boy answered, for he loved his twin more than even himself.

"I see into your heart, boy, do not lie to me!" the wizard cried, "I see that you lie, that you would save yourself!"

"No!"

"The choice is made! You cannot unmake it! You would save yourself! Coward!"

"No!" the boy screamed, "Save him!"

"So, you brother will stay with me in my forest, trapped in a separate time, while you live here! His life is now mine."

"Please!" the boy wept.

"But, your betrayal will not go unpunished. I will tell you what you must do, and if you do well, then perhaps I will be merciful. Perhaps I will spare his life..."

Yes, please," the boy wiled, "Anything!"

"However, if you do not, then I will kill him! Do you agree?"

"Yes!" the boy wailed, tears rolling down his pale cheeks.

"Very well! Here is what you must do. This is the country of Clow, and you must first go to its capital..."


End file.
